To Reappear
by elphabathedelirious32
Summary: Sequel to The Greatest Strength. Four years later, Glinda takes a walk with some surprising consequences.
1. The Walk

**A/N: Sequel! Yay! Okay, if my crazy English teacher calms down and I have time to breathe, I'll update. Sound fair? And I _promise_, updates for _everything _are coming. Oh. This is set about four years after the end of _The Greatest Strength_. Which, for anyone who hasn't read it- **

**-Elphaba and Fiyero are married and have a kid. Her name is Cassie. She's adorable. And at the end, Elphaba had found out that she was pregnant again. **

**-Ummm. Fiyero has a sister named Addie. So if some random person named Addie gets mentioned, that would be her. She's older and she's a midwife/doctor. So she would be, basically, an ob/gyn if they had such a thing in approximately 1900 in Oz. **

**For those who have read the story (This is a three paragraph A/N. That's sad), whoever can tell me where the story is taking place exactly gets cookies! (Don't say 'Oz.' That's just dumb). Oh. And I decided Cassie's blue eyes were her birth eyes and now she has hazel eyes. Because Cassie I do own so I can. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

Glinda liked to wander by herself after giving her annual commencement speech at Shiz University. The shining, hopeful young faces always inevitably stirred something in her, of her and Elphie and Boq and Fiyero. And look what had happened to them. To their hope.

This had been her fourth time giving the speech, and it was the second-worst day of her year, after the anniversary of Elphie's death. As the ruler of Oz, she apparently qualified as Shiz's most accomplished alumna, despite what she herself might have to say about someone infinitely more noble, more courageous, more intelligent…so she needed to be alone.

She wandered ponderously down a meandering path, past an abandoned riding stable, and into a glowing pine wood, orange and golden in the afternoon sun.

There was a path, nearly overgrown, but she could tell all the same that it had been traveled fairly recently. The indentations in the weeds indicated that someone had been here several times not too long ago. Deciding that if someone had been coming here, it was most likely safe, Glinda voyaged on despite the ripping of her pink skirts beneath her and the dirtying of her silk slippers.

She was not the same silly Galinda that she had once been.

It was several miles until she emerged into a sunny clearing dominated by a crystalline lake and a roaring waterfall. So entranced was she by the beautiful cascade, it was several minutes before she noticed a small stone cottage in the corner of the meadow, and a moment more before she spotted two small girls, fallen silent, staring at her solemnly.

She called out to them, and the taller of the two shook her small red head firmly, reaching out too late to grasp the shoulder of the younger one as she darted up to Glinda and stared up at her with wide blue eyes.

"Hello, sweetheart," said Glinda carefully. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled prettily, clapped a tiny hand over her mouth, and shook her head of black curls, imitating the older child, who now came forward, curiosity overcoming her.

She couldn't have been more than four, a beautiful child with red-gold curls and serious hazel eyes, though not without a spark of merriment. _Familiar_ hazel eyes. But Glinda shoved that aside.

And the smaller girl, clearly her sister now that the two were side by side, had short black curls, a charming, mischievous, smile, sparkling blue eyes, and delicate, pointed features like those of a little elf.

Glinda saw it, of course, the resemblance, but she knew she had to be hallucinating. After all, she had walked here immersed in thoughts of Elphie and Fiyero, it made sense that she would impose their features onto two random little children who had just happened into her path.

"Where are your parents?" Glinda asked, addressing the older girl. She lifted her eyes to meet Glinda's.

"Inside," she said after a long moment. The littler girl slipped her tiny hand into Glinda's, beaming trustingly up at her, and began to lead her, skipping, toward the little house.

The girl's older sister followed at Glinda's side, sending reprimanding looks at her younger counterpart, who blithely ignored them.

"What are your names?" Glinda asked again, hoping to stop identifying them by their ages alone. The older girl relented.

"I'm Cassandra," she said, "And that's Grania."

"Do you have a last name?" Glinda asked, not allowing her heart to leap with hope.

"Tig-" Grania began to shout, but Cassandra shushed her. "_Cas_-sie," Grania whined.

"_No_," said Cassie forcefully, reminding Glinda suddenly, distinctly, of Elphaba.

They reached the cottage at last, and Glinda reached out to knock on the wooden door, painted a jeweled shade of cobalt blue. A man answered, sandy-haired, his face hidden at first as he looked down at his daughters.

"Girls, the door is open, you don't have to-" he started, and then noticed Glinda's voluminous skirts and looked up, slowly.

"_Fiyero_?!"

"Glinda."

Another voice joined in as a woman came into the doorway.

"Fiyero, what's-"

"_Elphie?!?!?!_"

"Glinda?"

. "GRANIA!" the little girl crowed happily.


	2. The Hits Just Keep Coming

_Kansas_

No one ever believed Dorothy Gale. No one. No one. No one.

The sixteen-year-old kicked petulantly at a rock as she considered this. On Dorothy's sojourn home from the schoolhouse, this was what she always thought of- the irony of how her "perfect world" over the rainbow had made her an outcast in this one. Ever since she had returned from Oz at twelve, insisting on its reality, she had been mocked, made fun of, and not taken seriously by anyone but Evie O'Sullivan, who'd returned from University to teach at the town's small school.

"You should take the exam and apply to college, Dorothy," Evie always told her. "You've got a great mind. Imagination is a gift, not a curse."

That didn't change the fact that it made her a freak.

And she couldn't take it anymore. She wished- she wished- she were back in Oz, where everyone believed her and she was a hero-

Apparently Evie was right. Imagination was more powerful than she'd thought.

_Gillikin, the forest north of Shiz_

Glinda was still in shock as she sat drinking tea at Elphie's kitchen table, her old friend and her ex-fiance sitting across from her, staring with worried eyes.

Cassie had, at her mother's bidding, taken little Grania over to play in the corner, but the dark-haired little sprite kept looking curiously at Glinda and grinning whenever the woman made eye contact.

_Her mother's spirit, her father's charm_, Glinda thought ruefully. _Watch out for that one. She'll be able to do anything. And the elder has Elphaba's solemnity and steel spine, certainly…_

"Glin?" she focused back on Elphaba, whose hands were folded nervously on the table and whose foot kept twitching in that way Elphie had when she was anxious or even just bored. "Glin, I'm sorry- I had to-" Elphaba began painfully. She was interrupted by a loud thud and the sound of a female voice going "Ooompf!" from outside. Fiyero was up instantly.

"I'll check on it," he said, dashing outside. And a moment later: "Oh, shit." And then the door opened and yet another girl's world turned on its axis that day.

_Dorothy_:

Her first thought was, _Holy shit_, a word she'd only heard from the farmhands and had been practicing in her head ever since. Her second was, spotting the children in the corner, _I was right! _

And her third, upon seeing the expression in Elphaba's eyes, _I hope. _

Elphaba spoke first.

"What the hell," she began menacingly, standing and pulling herself up to her full height, which was less impressive than Dorothy remembered, or maybe she'd just grown- "Are you doing here?"

"Doro_thy_?" Glinda squealed, getting up from the table. "Oh, dear. Elphie. Elphie, calm down. I must insist. Sit. Both of you."

Glinda managed the Witch with incredible aplomb, getting both women and the man who had found Dorothy and whose face was somehow familiar to sit down.

Elphaba glared. Glinda ignored her. The dark-haired little girl giggled. The redhead glared. The littler girl ignored her. The man looked from the girls to the old friends and stifled a laugh himself.

Everyone glared, but the effect was somewhat spoiled by both children bursting into laughter in quick succession. Elphaba turned her head, the anger flashing out of her eyes in an instant.

"Go in your bedroom, girls," she said in a surprisingly soft voice. "Cassie, make sure Grania stays put." The redheaded girl nodded, and the pair trotted off, the other girl sending periodic glances over her shoulder when her sister wasn't looking.

"I _was _right," said Dorothy. Elphaba whipped her head around and the fury was back, as if she had it in a faucet she could turn on and off.

"Shut up."

"I _was_."

"What was she right about, Elphie?"

"_Nothing_." Elphaba fixed Dorothy with an even fiercer look, if that was possible. "Who says that's the same child?" she demanded.

"She has the same hair. She's the right age," Dorothy said.

"And you're such an expert on children, I'm sure."

"Let's have both of you calm down," suggested the man calmly.

"Let's not," said Elphaba.

"Who _are _you?" asked Dorothy. The man exchanged a nervous glance with the Witch.

"He's a person," Elphaba said obnoxiously. Glinda giggled. The other three glared at her.

"Well, I can _see _that," said Dorothy.

"He's a man. He has a d-"

"_Elphaba_."

"Duodenum," Elphaba said innocently, smiling a sarcastically sweet smile at Glinda, who had delivered the reprimand.

"What's that?" Glinda and Fiyero asked at the same time.

"Part of the digestive system."

The others were silent. "Why are you here?" Elphaba demanded of Dorothy.

"I don't know!" the girl cried. "I was wishing I were somewhere else, and then

suddenly-"

"Oh, _lovely_, Glinda," Elphaba snapped. "You've managed to give her some kind of magic or something." Glinda raised both hands.

"No, I didn't. I can't even change a dress into a ballgown," she protested.

Elphaba cocked an eyebrow. "Then who-"

"You?" Fiyero suggested, grinning slightly.

"Ha!"

"Well…maybe she just has the power."

"But she's not a-"

"Morrible has it, and she isn't either."

Elphaba gave Fiyero a dark look. "How did you know what I was going to say?"

"Logic?"

"You, logical?"

"Yes, I am the non-suicidal one here."

"I am _not _suicidal."

"You sure as hell act like it sometimes. Going within five feet of the City just to see if you'll get caught."

"Don't be ridiculous. It was twelve and three fourths of a foot, and I was behind a tree."

"You _measured_?"

"Be quiet, you, you- brainless idiot."

The halfhearted insult triggered something in Dorothy. She stared at the man's blue eyes.

"I know you!" she declared suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "You're the Scarecrow!"


	3. The Truth

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged wide-eyed looks and Elphaba's lips disappeared into a tight line.

"You _are_?" asked Glinda.

"No. He's not. I have no idea what you're talking about," Elphaba said as convincingly as possible. She tried to kick Fiyero under the table, but Glinda's skirts got in the way. She jumped in her seat.

"What was that?" Glinda shrieked. Elphaba groaned in abject frustration and buried her face in her hands.

"He is. He _is_. You are, aren't you?" Dorothy said, addressing Fiyero.

"Um…"

Elphaba turned her eyes skyward at this in a gesture of exasperation.

Suddenly, everyone's attention was redirected towards an near explosion of sound at the end of the hallway. In quick succession, a small brown Dog, muddy and scruffy, Grania, and Cassie came running back into the kitchen, the Dog's nails clicking loudly on the stone floor as he ran, Grania giggling and shouting in delight, and Cassie yelling at both of them to stop.

_"Pygmalius!" _Elphaba screamed. The Dog screeched to a stop and gave her a big brown-eyed look of innocence. "Oh, _stop_. I have told you a thousand times that you do not come in here covered in mud, and you do not listen to anything Grania says." The Dog looked about to interrupt, but Elphaba held up a hand firmly. "No. I do not care what she said. She is _two. _A precocious two, but two nonetheless. And you are five. And five times seven is thirty-five. So you are the adult in this situation, Pygmalius, dubious as that distinction seems at the moment. And that means that you do not participate in her hare-brained schemes."

"I'm sorry," Pygmalius wrenched out in a croaky voice. He offered a crooked grin. "I was oppress-"

"And that has what to do with you listening to a two-year-old? _Honestly_," Elphaba glared furiously.

"I'll just…go…outside," Pygmalius said finally.

"Good idea." Elphaba turned to her daughters and took in Grania's disheveled, mud-spattered appearance. "Grania, what have I told you about mud?"

"Wash it off," said Grania, her smile never disappearing.

"And what about staying in your room?"

"Oh…"

"Go in your room, Grania, but do not touch anything until I wash you off, all right?"

"Yes!" Grania responded enthusiastically, and went skipping vigorously to her room.

"I tried to tell her-" Cassie interjected.

"I know, darling. I know. Go on and play," Elphaba urged her, and the little girl obeyed.

"You know," said a voice from outside the window, "that Grania is quite persuasive-"

"PYGMALIUS!" Elphaba roared, and the Dog's footsteps could be heard retreating into the meadow.

Elphaba dropped back into her chair and rubbed her temples. "I am cursed," she muttered to herself.

Dorothy stared, dumbfounded. Glinda, who after all knew Elphaba quite well, merely tittered into her hand. Fiyero sipped at a cup of coffee, used to the chaotic goings-on that centered continually around his wife.

"What…what is going on here?" Dorothy asked when she finally found her voice.

"Elphaba," said Fiyero.

"Fine," Elphaba said. "Go on, I don't care, clearly no one listens to anything I say around here anyway."

"You're right, Dorothy," began Fiyero. "I am the Scarecrow." Elphaba groaned and buried her face deeper into her hands. "Well- I was. Um. Let's see…well, the three of us went to college together, and Glinda and Elphaba were roommates, and I dated Glinda…for a while…but we don't talk about that," he added hastily, wary of the glares he was receiving from two directions. "And I was just kind of an idiot. Until this one day, when our professor, Dr. Dillamond, a Goat, was taken away by government agents, and our new professor had this Lion cub in a cage, and he was doing stuff to it, and Elphaba got all angry and suddenly everyone except the two of us was frozen, and we grabbed the cage and ran off and set the cub free…and yes, he was the Cowardly Lion you knew, Dorothy," he continued. "And I was failing History, so Elphaba decided to tutor me, and we kind of started falling in love…" Fiyero trailed off. "And. Um. Well, the Wizard of Oz summoned Elphaba because of her powers at sorcery, and she brought Glinda with her, and I…kind of…snuck onto the train."

Glinda took over. "And then he wasn't allowed in the throne room with us. And the Wizard made Elphie read this spell, and it was awful! All these monkeys got wings and _they _were screaming, and Morrible- our headmistress- told Elphie spells couldn't be reversed and so _Elphie _was screaming, and then she ran off and the Wizard got behind his giant head-thingy and _he _was screaming for the guards, and I ran after her, and then she levitated this broom thingy and took off through the roof and became a fugitive and it was _awful_," Glinda concluded breathlessly.

"Right. And then Fiyero followed me and wouldn't leave me the hell alone," Elphaba said sourly. Fiyero grinned brightly at her and continued with the story.

"So we wandered back toward the City and ran into some members of the Resistance against the Wizard, which we joined, and we lived there for a while, and I got kidnapped and then we got married and went to my castle and got married again and then moved back to the City except then my dad died and we went back to my castle and then Elphie had a baby and then your house fell on her sister and then I went to see what was going on and some Gale Forcers caught me and beat me and Elphaba chanted this spell to save my life that accidentally turned me into the Scarecrow, and the whole time we were traveling to her castle from the City, she would fly to me every night and we planned out how to fake her death, and then you came and she pretended to melt and we hid out here and she turned me back, and here we are," Fiyero finished. "Oh. She also turned our old friend Boq into the Tinman, but that was an accident and really her sister's fault-" Fiyero noticed the dark look Elphaba was giving him. "But that's another story. That I do not think you will be hearing in the near future."

"So there you have it," Elphaba said softly, staring at Dorothy. "The question is, which version do you believe?" She smiled wryly. "After all, the truth is just what everyone agrees on."


	4. Debts

**A/N: School's almost done!! Sorry I haven't updated…much of anything. But I will! **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

Dorothy had a tremendous headache. She had never been exactly sure of _anyone's _true role in Oz. She hadn't been sure of _anything_- she had only been twelve the last time she was here, after all. But now this- Dorothy had, to her credit, always suspected that the frightening exterior wasn't all there was to the Witch. And now here was Glinda, Glinda the _Good_, telling her it was all true. Well, she owed it to both of them, good witch and wicked, to believe them now. And although _apparently _the Witch was a magnificent actress- Dorothy had nearly wet herself on several occasions in that castle…but the children hadn't been acting. They weren't in the least afraid of the Witch. The fury that flashed into softness in the Witch's eyes when she turned to the girls was not an act. The fierce, proud vulnerability in her face now was nothing if not sincere.

"Yes," Dorothy said finally, turning to the witches and the former Scarecrow, "I do believe you."

Glinda squealed and nearly crushed Dorothy in a hug. Elphaba smiled slightly and murmured something to the effect of, "At least _somebody _listens," and Fiyero gave the young girl a wide grin.

"I'd hope you would, Dorothy," he said.

"Now I know how you knew where everything was in that castle!" exclaimed Dorothy. "And why you weren't more frightened when you caught fire."

"It wasn't real fire!" Elphaba cried indignantly.

"If you'd hadn't picked up the bucket of water, she'd have 'put it out' by magic, which would've given me a reason to persuade you all not to hurt her. That was our back-up plan, though Boq was so frenzied by then that it might not have worked."

Elphaba shuddered. "Poor Boq," she said quietly.

"'Poor Boq?' Elphie, he wanted to _kill _you! If he knew you weren't dead, he still would! And not a _nice_ death, either," Glinda burst out. Elphaba laughed.

"Execution without trial is never _nice_, Glin," she said. Glinda's face took on a miffed, pouting look. "And it _is_ 'poor Boq,'" Elphaba added. "Think of it. He can't _feel_, he can't have empathy for anyone- he can't love. Glinda, once I thought I never would either, and I didn't know what it was _to _love or be loved- and he does. Imagine that capacity taken away, Glinda- the only feeling that of loss, because you'd _know_ what you were missing."

Fiyero wrapped his arms around Elphaba and pulled her into his chair.

"You didn't do that," he said, stroking her hair. Dorothy and Glinda tried to look away from the pair, but could not. Their eyes were drawn irrevocably to the center of the loving intensity that had suddenly filled the room. It was as if the burning sun that can't be looked at directly had been transported into the kitchen in front of them.

"Yes," Elphaba murmured, "But- but maybe I should have- have let him die rather than – go on- like that…"

"Oh, no, Miss Elphaba, no!" Dorothy cried, unable to help herself. "He seemed- happy- at least, he was all right when he was with us, wasn't he?" She gave Fiyero a plaintive look.

"Yes, Fae, he did."

"Well-" She sat up and moved back to her own chair, wiping her eyes briskly and composing her features. "There's nothing to be done about it now."

"What about how you changed him back?" asked Glinda, pointing at Fiyero. Elphaba shook her head.

"He'd die. There were two spells on him- the one Nessa did to take away his heart, and the one I did, to save him. I _could _change him back to a man, maybe even work something up so that he wouldn't die, but he'd still be heartless."

Dorothy listened with wide eyes, absorbing the story.

"So that's what happened," she said quietly. "All you ever did was try to save people- and Animals- and then they blamed you!"

"Neglecting the fact that without her, they'd be dead," Fiyero said. He smiled at Dorothy. "Exactly. And it doesn't help matters that _she _believes it, too." He gave his wife a look and she stood, annoyed, and began to fuss uselessly about the kitchen, looking for something to occupy her shaking hands. Dorothy watched, still fascinated. This alteration in who the Witch was had shifted Dorothy's world, as well, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. But there was a more pressing problem that demanded her attention: how on Earth to get back to- well, Earth? She hadn't any magical shoes this time. Perhaps her imagination would work again, but Dorothy wasn't so keen to try it just yet. She was still utterly confused.

Now that she was older, Oz was opening before her in all its layered shades of grey. The girl watched Elphaba as she turned to the window and called Pygmalius inside, and determined that she owed something to this woman who gave of herself and got nothing but exile and hatred in return.

She, after all, was a heroine here, beloved of all Oz.

Surely, she could do something.


	5. Plan

A/N: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated this story

**A/N: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated this story! I'm so sorry- junior year is like death and taxes combined into one. Tedium, useless math, futility, all that sort of thing. But I've done SAT and ACT and their alphabet soup of friends- oh, that sounds bad, doesn't it, oh well- and all that remains are the AP's. So- please review, if there's anyone who remembers this.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

"Citizens of Oz-" Glinda's voice caught a little. It always did when she greeted the crowds before her, with the echo of Morrible's strident cruelty in her ear. She took in a deep breath, looked over her shoulder, and gave the fidgeting Dorothy a wink. "I come to you today with good news." Another catch in her throat. "Our great heroine, the savior of our country-" _Elphaba Thropp_, she thought- "Miss Dorothy Gale, has returned to us!"

The crowd burst into mingled cheering and gasps of thrilled disbelief. Glinda motioned to the girl to step forward.

"She wishes to greet her old friends and compatriots, our fellow heros, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Lion," Glinda said firmly, her voice never revealing that she knew who two of them were and that one certainly would not becoming forward- that the Scarecrow, such as he had ever been, no longer existed. "If anyone has information on their whereabouts, or if they are here, please let them come forward. Thank you all." She stepped back, her perfect smile in place.

"How do you do it?" Dorothy asked quietly, giving an unsure, awkward wave and receiving the cheers that followed with a slightly frightened smile. "How do you talk to them when you know the truth?"

"Because Elphaba made me promise," said Glinda, "And I had to keep my word to her."

"Why do they all hate her?"

"Do you hate who your king tells you to hate?"

"Our president," Dorothy corrected absently. "Well- he tells us to hate criminals, I suppose."

"That's all well and good, so long as they really are criminals."

"But how do you know?"

"Come on, dear." Glinda said, not answering. She led Dorothy off the dais back into the palace. The two women didn't speak until they arrived back at Glinda's apartments. As soon as the door shut behind them, Elphaba shimmered into view.

"So it works!" Glinda enthused, hugging her friend tightly.

"yes, well," Elphaba said, her attempt to disguise her own euphoria belied by the rosy flush to her green cheeks.

"you were there the whole time?" Dorothy asked, bewildered.

Elphaba grinned in response. "If only the Ozians knew."

Glinda giggled merrily.

"I wonder if the Tinman will come," Dorothy mused aloud.

"Oh, he will," Elphaba assured her. "He's in love with Glinda, and he hero-worships you."

"How fast can you do the invisibility spell?" Glinda asked. "In case he comes now. Like as not they'll just let him through, recognizable as he is."

"I can do it fast," Elphaba said. She chanted all the words less one. "There. I just have to finish it and it'll go."

"Good," Dorothy said from her position by Glinda's enormous, pink-curtained window, "because he's on his way."

Elphaba finished the spell and, presumably, took herself somewhere comfortable and out of the way to listen to the coming encounter.

As Glinda had predicted, Boq's distinctive, hollow knock was heard at the door in a few minutes, unannounced by the usual messengers.

"Miss Glinda," he said when she answered, bowing creakily.

"Master B- Tin Man," she returned cordially, giving him her hand to kiss. "you recall Miss Gale, of course."

"Of course."

Dorothy, following the formal example of the adults, curtseyed laughably. There was a muffled cackle from the direction of the bed, which Glinda covered with a series of delicate sneezes- more than sufficient to distract Boq.

"Bless you, bless you, bless you, bless you," he said, then- "Lady Glinda, are you all right?"

"Oh, perfectly fine, thank you," she said. "So, where have you been keeping yourself, Master Tin Man?"

"Here and there," said Boq. "I'm staying in the Emerald Towers Inn, now. There aren't many jobs for a tin man, but they let me stay for free, on account of being a hero, and all." He spoke awkwardly and Glinda had the sense that, had he a human body, he would have blushed.

"I need your help, Mr. Tin Man, sir," Dorothy said. Elphaba, from her invisible position on Glinda's bed, noted the shift in the girl's allegiances in the way she spoke. Before, it was all Scarecrow and Tin Man and Lion dears and darlings, and she had been Miss Wicked Witch of the West. She hoped Boq would not be as perceptive.

He wasn't. He gave Dorothy a soft-eyed look.

"Of course, Miss Dorothy. What is it?"

"It's- um, it's Scarecrow," she lied. "I can't find any trace of him. I'm sure Lion's in the forest, being king, but I can't imagine where Scarecrow might be, and no one's heard of him, either."

"Oh, dear," Boq said. Elphaba stared at the girl, openmouthed, and Glinda was barely masking her own horrified astonishment. _What_ was she doing?

"Will you help me find him?" Dorothy asked without a tremor.

That girl, Elphaba reflected, had better have a plan, or she _would_ see just how wicked one retired Witch could be.


End file.
